Aggrieved BDP members plan court action

Some members of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in Mahalapye East constituency are planning to take legal action after the party dismissed their protests over primary elections' results.

The group intends to contest the general elections as independent candidates if they do not get a satisfactory resolution to their grievances. The members say after their appeals were dismissed, their attempts to meet the party top brass has failed. They say their cases were not dealt with fairly by the regional committee or the BDP Appeals Board.  A spokesman of the group, Davis Gabokgethwe said if the party leadership fails to listen to them, they will have to take the matter to court.  "Our appeals in Mahalapye East were not listened to either by the region or Appeals Board. How can someone dismiss your case without calling you for a hearing? We had requested for an appointment to meet the party secretary general, Mpho Balopi and party chairman, Ponatshego Kedikilwe," he said.

He said Balopi had promised to come back to them about their desire to meet the party leadership but this never happened. Gabokgethwe said they were shocked by letters they received from the BDP central committee, which stated that their cases were dismissed because there was no evidence to back their claims. He said before the primary elections were held, they had written to the Electoral Board to complain about the voters' roll. He said they were never given a chance to inspect the roll.

Editor's Comment
Inspect the voters' roll!

The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...

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